AITA secretary Anil Khanna has apparently spent hours poring over the Arthashastra the last couple of months.
However, one asset that the Globosport boss has is his development programme to groom future players, which is far better than any the tennis body has in place
MUMBAI: AITA secretary Anil Khanna has apparently spent hours poring over the Arthashastra the last couple of months. The moves he unveiled on Monday would make any Kautilya proud. For long, Khanna has been a mute spectator to players demanding their myriad pounds of flesh to play for the country. All along he has been keeping his punches back and posturing as the pliant administrator loath to take on the stars.
Now, the gloves are off.
The open attack against private entrepreneurs bringing tournaments to India is a declaration of war. It is possible to discern a grand strategy to bring Mahesh Bhupathi and his coterie a couple of pegs down. It all began with Rohan Bopanna being dropped from the Indian Davis Cup squad despite being one of the more experienced Davis Cup veterans out of the present lot.
That he did not even figure as a reserve fifth member — the norm for Indian teams for a long time — makes it apparent that there is a straight forward message being sent to players aligning against the national federation. That has been followed by removing one of Globosport’s premier visibility niches as a promoter of top-notch tennis events in India.
All along the AITA has been looking for loopholes in the Bhupathi-Apollo Tyres tie-up for their Mission 2018. Top honchos of the federation called the company to ask them to jettison Bhupathi and come on the AITA band wagon. As of now that has not happened but given the pressures that the national body can bring to bear — like not allowing the proposed Apollo junior championship to materialise — it has to be part of the big plan to strip Globosport of its commercial backing.
The one recourse to Bhupathi is the possibility of asking the courts to step in and examine AITA’s attempt to monopolise high-level tournaments while stamping out any possibility of competition.
That in itself may well go in favour of the national body as it has made clear that the priority is not to host more than one ATP and WTA event in India. Khanna was categorical in stating that it makes no difference to Indian tennis is these events do not take place. And courts take long to decide on issues so if the arbitration drags on, it only tends to benefit AITA.
Somewhere in New York, Leander Paes must be having a quiet chuckle. He has got the federation to fight all his battles for him. The AITA defended him when the rebellion against his captaincy took place and now has attacked his rival Bhupathi commercially.
That Paes’ chosen support staff; his father Vece as team doctor, Nandan Bal as coach and Sanjay Singh as trainer, are all part of the team for the tie against Romania only illustrates which horse AITA is backing.
Shyamal Vallabhjee as another trainer is the only accommodation for Bhupathi.
The crucial mistake that Bhupathi made in the past was to attack Khanna personally in the press. The administrator has a long memory and he has obviously not forgotten the slights. The lack of an Olympic medal made the star player fair game.
The one asset that Bhupathi has in his arsenal is his development programme to groom future players. It is far better than any the AITA has or Paes keeps dreaming about.
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